Little American leaving animals standing (5)
I believe the answer is:
small
'little' is the definition.
(synonyms)
I cannot understand how the rest of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for small that I've seen before include "Diminutive" , "Petite" , "Unimportant; little" , "Itsy-bitsy" , "Not large" .)